India’s Rape Epidemic

The furor over a shocking Delhi gang rape in at the end of 2012 overflowed into 2013. Mass protests at the time demanded greater protection for women and swift justice. The trial and sentencing of the culprits—four were given the death penalty—of the six suspects lasted through September. Subsequent incidents, including the rape of another 23-year-old girl in Mumbai, also drew widespread attention nationally and abroad, and the uproar has shone a necessary spotlight on India’s notoriously patriarchal society. It has also placed renewed scrutiny on the state of women’s rights in the developing world where more than 2 million girls give birth before the age of 14.